Auxiliary book cover



Jan. 1968 v. MARCELLINO 3,364,344 I AUXILIARY BOOK COVER Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 28, 1966 INVENTOR. v UM BY Jan. 16, 1968 v. MARCELLINO AUXILIARY BOOK COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 28, 1966 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,364,344 AUXILIARY BOOK COVER Vincent Marcellino, 2025 E. 19th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11229 Filed Apr. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 546,028 4 Claims. (Cl. 240-6.4)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An auxiliary book cover which is adapted to have a book removably mounted therein and is provided with a self contained lighting means which is adapted to project light onto the pages of a book mounted therein when said book is in open position.

The invention comprises generally an elongated relatively narrow central back section, which conforms in size to the back of an average sized book, and a pair of rectangular side sections which conform in size to the side of an average sized book. The back and side sections may be made of any suitable stiff material, which may if desired be provided with an ornamental covering of fabric, plastic, or leather. One of the side sections is hingedly connected to one side of the back section and the other side section is hingedly connected to the other side of the back section. In closed position the side sections extend forwardly from the back section parallel to each other, and are adapted to be swung outwardly therefrom, upon the opening of a book mounted within the cover, to aligned position.

A bracket arm which is secured to the upper end of the back section and extends forwardly therefrom intermediate the side sections, is provided with an electric light fixture at the free end thereof which, when energized, is adapted to project light downwardly therefrom onto a book mounted in the cover, when the book and cover are in open position. Current for the lighting fixture is provided by dry cell batteries which are mounted in battery cases secured to the outer sides of the side sections. The energization of the light fixture is controlled by a switch which is secured to the outer side of the back section and is adapted to be automatically closed by the opening of the cover and automatically opened by the closing of the cover. A manually operated push button switch which is mounted on the bracket arm in series with the automatically actuated switch is provided to permit de energization of the light fixture, when the cover and a book therein are in open position and artificial light is not needed for reading of the book.

The principal object of the invention is therefore to provide an auxiliary book cover which is adapted to have a book removably mounted therein and is provided with an electric lighting fixture which is adapted to project light onto the pages of a book mounted therein to facilitate reading thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a book cover of the aforesaid character, means by which the light fixture is automatically energized by the opening of the cover and is automatically de-energized by the closing of the book cover.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a book cover of the aforesaid character which is of simple construction, is eflicient in operation, and can be inexpensively manufactured.

Having stated the principal objects of the invention, other and more specific objects thereof will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of an auxiliary book cover constructed according to my invention, with the closed position thereof being shown in full lines, and the open position thereof being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a central vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing a modified form of the invention in closed position;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the book cover of FIG. 4 in open position;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detail section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram of the lighting and switching mechanism of the forms of the invention shown in both FIGS. 1 and 4.

Having generally described the invention it will now be specifically described in connection with the drawing with the use of reference characters in which the numeral 1 indicates generally an auxiliary book cover which is constructed according to my invention and comprises an elongated relatively narrow back section 2 and a pair of similar rectangular side sections 3 and 4, all of which are formed from any suitable stiff material and conform in size to the back and sides of a normal sized book. The side section 3 is hingedly connected to one side edge of the back section 2 by a flexible connection 5, for back and forth swinging movement between closed and open positions as shown in FIG. 1; and the side section 4 is similarly connected to the other side edge of the back section 2 by a flexible connection 6. The forward free end of each side section 3 and 4 is provided with a rearwardly turned flap 7 to form pockets 8 into which the free ends of the sides of a book 9 are inserted to removably mount the book in the cover 1, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 2.

A bracket arm, generally indicated by the numeral 10, is secured to the central back section 2 adjacent the upper end thereof and extends forwardly therefrom between the side sections 3 and 4. The bracket arm 10 comprises a horizontally disposed inner tubular member 11, which is permanently secured to the back section 2 by rivets 12, and an outer tubular member 13 which is slidably mounted on the inner section 11 for back and forth adjustment thereon. An electric light fixture, generally indicated by the numeral 14, is carried by the outer bracket arm section 13 at the forward end thereof. The light fixture 14 comprises an electric socket 15, which is mounted within the bracket section 13, a reflector 16 which is secured to the under side of the section 13 and extends downwardly therefrom, and an electric light bulb 17 which is disposed within the reflector 16 and is screwed into the socket 15. As shown in FIG. 2 the bracket arm 10 and light fixture 14 are disposed above the book 9 in the cover 1 so that when the light bulb 17 is energized light therefrom will be projected downwardly by the reflector 16 onto the opened pages of the book 9. The position of the light fixture 14 may be adjusted as desired with respect to the book pages by moving the outer bracket arm section 13 forwardly or rearwardly upon the inner bracket arm section 11.

Current for the energization of the electric light bulb 17 is supplied by a plurality of dry cell batteries 18 which are disposed in a pair of battery cases 19, one of which is secured to the outer surface of each of the side sections 3 and 4. The energization of the light bulb 17 is controlled by an automatically actuated switch 20, which is secured to the rear wall of the back section 2, and a manually actuated switch 21 which is carried by the bracket arm inner section 11. The light bulb 17, batteries 18, and switches and 21 are all connected in series with each other by a conductor 22 as shown in FIG. 8. The switch 20 is adapted to be automatically closed by the movement of the side sections 3 and 4 of the cover 1 from closed to open position, and to be automatically opened by the side sections 3 and 4 from open to closed position. The manually actuated switch 21 is provided to break the circuit between the batteries 18 and the light bulb 17 when light from the bulb 17 is not needed for reading the book 9.

The switch 20, which is yieldingly spring biased to closed position by a spring 23, is provided with a plunger 24 which is adapted to be depressed to effect the opening of the switch against the pressure of the spring 23. For this purpose a narrow flexible band is provided which extends between the side sections 3 and 4 across the back section 2 in position to engage the plunger 24 of the switch 20. One end of the band 25 is secured to the side section 3 beyond the hinge connection 5, as shown at 26, and the other end thereof is secured to the side section 4 beyond the hinge connection 6, as shown at 27. When the side sections 3 and 4 are in book closing position the band 25 is maintained in the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 thereby depressing the plunger 24 to switch opening position against the resistance of the spring 23; and when the side sections 3 and 4 are in book opening position the band 25 assumes the position shown in full lines in FIG. 5 and dotted lines in FIG. 2, thereby releasing the plunger 24 and allowing the spring 23 to close the switch 20.

FIGS. 4 to 7 disclose a slightly modified form of the invention in which the bracket arm 19 consists of a single tubular member 28 which is secured to the back section 2 and on which the light fixture 14 and switch 21 are mounted, and in which extraneous light shielding means is provided between the bracket arm element 28 and each of the side sections 3 and 4. Otherwise the construction and operation of the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 is identical with that shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and the same numerals are applied to like parts.

The light shielding means comprises a pair of similar thin, flexible, accordion pleated sheets, one of which, 29, is connected between one side of the bracket arm member 28 and the side section 3, and the other of which, 30, is connected between the opposite side of the bracket arm member 28 and the side section 4. When the side sections 3 and 4 are in book closing position the pleated sheets 29 and 30 fold up as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6; and when the side sections 3 and 4 are in book opening position the pleated sheets 29 and 30 unfold into a single horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 5.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided very simple and elfective means for accomplishing the objects of the invention, and it is to be understood that I am not limited to the specific construction shown and described herein as various modifications may be made therein within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An auxiliary book cover of the character described comprising a central back section and a pair of similar side sections, means by which one of said side sections is hingedly connected to one side of said back section and the other of said side sections is hingedly connected to the other side of said back section for back and forth movement between parallel closed position and aligned open position, means by which a book is adapted to be removably mounted between said side sections, an elongated bracket arm which is secured to the upper end of said back section and extends forwardly therefrom, an electric light bulb mounted on said bracket arm in position to project light downwardly therefrom onto the pages of an open book mounted in said cover, a battery case carried by said cover, a dry cell battery mounted in said case, an electric circuit between said light bulb and said battery, switching means which is disposed in said circuit in series with said light bulb and said battery and is operative to make and break said circuit and thereby effect the energization and de-energization of said light bulb, said bracket arm comprising an inner tubular member having one end thereof secured to said back section, and an outer tubular member slidably mounted on said inner tubular member for back and forth adjustment thereon, said light bulb being mounted on said outer tubular member for movement therewith.

2. An auxiliary book cover of the character described comprising a central back section and a pair of similar side sections, means by which one of said side sections is hingedly connected to one side of said back section and the other of said side section is hingedly connected to the other side of said back section for back and forth movement between parallel closed position and aligned open position, means by which a book is adapted to be removably mounted between said side sections, a bracket arm which is secured to the upper end of said back section and extends forwardly therefrom, an electric light bulb and reflector mounted on said bracket arm in position to project light downwardly therefrom onto the pages of an open book mounted in said cover, a battery case carried by said cover, a dry cell battery mounted in said case, an electric circuit between said light bulb and said battery, switching means which is disposed in said circuit in series with said light bulb and said battery and is operative to make and break said circuit and thereby effect the energization and de-energization of said light bulb, an extensible and collapsible extraneous light shielding means connected to and between each side of said bracket and the adjacent side section, said shielding means being extensible as said side sections are moved from closed to open position and collapsible as said side sections are moved from open to closed position.

3. An auxiliary book cover as defined by claim 2 in which said light shielding means comprises a pair of thin flexible accordion pleated sheets, one of which is connected to and between one side of said bracket arm and one of said side sections and the other of which is connected to and between the opposite side of said bracket arm and the other of said side sections, said sheets being adapted to unfold into flat surfaces upon movement of said side sections from closed to open position.

4. An auxiliary book cover of the character described comprising a central back section and a pair of similar side sections, means by which one of said side sections is hingedly connected to one side of said back section and the other of said side sections is hingedly connected to the other side of said back section for back and forth movement between parallel closed position and aligned open position, means by which a book is adapted to be removably mounted between said side sections, an elongated bracket arm which is secured to the upper end of said back section and extends forwardly'therefrom, an electric light bulb and reflector mounted on said bracket arm in position to project light downwardly therefrom onto the pages of an open book mounted in said cover, a battery case carried by said cover, a dry cell battery mounted in said case, an'electric circuit between said light bulb and said battery, switching means which is disposed in said circuit in series with said light bulb and said battery and is operative to make and break said circuit and thereby effect the energization and de-energization of said light bulb, said switching means comprising a casing secured to the outer side of said back section, a pair of contacts mounted in said casing, a bridging bar, a spring by which said bar is yieldingly biased into engagement with said contacts to close said switching means,

a depressible plunger which extends out from said casing and is operative When depressed to move said bar out of engagement with said contacts to open said switching means, a flexible band having one end thereof secured to one of said side sections and the other end thereof secured to the other of said side sections, said band extending across said back section in spaced relation thereto in position to engage the outer end of said plunger, said band being operative when said side sections are moved from References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

open to closed position to depress said plunger and Open 10 G. M. HOFFMAN, Assistant Examiner.

said switching means. 

